John hill



J.l HILL. `Feed-Indioatol"for Cotton-Openers'.

No. 224,:85. Patented Feb. 3, 1880.., A

INVENTOR m lil. w w.. NWN w O 0 O N Y .0 LPI l WTNBSSES:

` ATTORNEYS.

N. PETERS, PHOTO-LIYHOGKAPHER, WASHINGIDN. D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

.JOHN HILL, or COLUMBUS, GEORGIA.

FEED-p-INDICATOR FOR CO'IVTON-OPENERS.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters APatent No. 224,185, datedFebruary 3, 1.880.

ApplicationwledNovember 21, 1819. Y

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I,'JOHN HILL, of Columbus, in the county of lVIuscogeeand State of Georgia, have invented a new and Improved Feed-Indicatorfor Cotton-Openers; and I do hereby declare that the following isa'full, clear, and exact description oi' the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawand loosen the tussocks of cottonas theycomefrom the bale and distribute theber in the form of a ieece. Inusingthese openers two are4 sometimes employed together toV actsuccessively upon the cotton; or one-opener may be employed inconnection with a lappingmachine,the function of which latter is topress together and compact into aa'eece. In either case a hollow trunkhas been employed as a conduit, in connection with a blast of airpassing`through the same, to act as a vehicle to carry the ieece fromone opener to the other, or from the opener` to the lapping-machine,which secondl machine is generally located upon a different floor, or ata point more or less remote from the first.

My invention has more special reference to what is known as KitsonsTrunk System of Opening Cotton 5 butitcan be used in any similar systemwhere the opener is located at some distance from the secondopener orlapper and cotton is supplied from the first to the second through atrunk or ilue.

The invention consists inmaking the boxesk ofthe upper feed-roll of thesecond opener or lapper vertically adjustable and connecting them withan index-hand within sight of the operator at the rst machine, so thatsaid operator, at a point remote. from the second machine, can tell theamount of cotton fed to the second machine by the rise or fall of themovable roller due to the passage of la greater or less quantity ofcotton to the second machine.

In the drawings, A and B represent two` oors of the building, upon whichare located, respectively, the rst and second openers, C and D,of which,as here shown, the first opener, G, is located on the first ioor, andthesecond opener, D, on the floor above, and which second opener,D, maybesupplantedbya lapping-v machine, as described.` These two machines areconnected by a hollow trunk or flue, E, whichleads fromthe discharge endof the iirst machine to the feed end of the remote machine, andV throughwhich a blast of air is forced to carrythe iieece along.

Cotton is supplied to the first machine, and after its bers are loosenedit passes, in connection with the propelling drafts of air andcollecting-condensers, directly to the feed attachment of the secondmachine, the amount of cotton supplied to the second machine beingdetermined by that passing through the first.

' For evenness of' results it becomes important that some ready means ofdetermining the amount of cotton being used by the second machine shouldbe afforded to the operator feeding the supply to the first. 'loaccomplish this I place on each journal of the upper feedroll, F, of thesecond machine a verticallymovable box or half-box, a, which rises andfalls according to the thickness ,of the feed passing between the rolls.From each ot' these boxes I suspend links b, loosely attached at vtheirlower ends to the opposite ends of a horibar c'and lever d being closeto the fulcrum of the latter, so that the range of movement will bemultiplied to increase the sensitiveness of the indicator. y

The weight c may be supplanted by a spring, and its gravity or tensionis sutlcient to take up all lost motion in the connections and to causethe boxes to closely follow the move-' ments ofthe journals.

To the weighted end of the lever d a conroo necting-rod,j`, is attached,whose position is determined by the relative situations of the twomachines and the connecting-trunk. As shown, it passes downward to thedoor beneath, where the first machine is located, and connects with thecrank g of a rock-shaft, 11 arranged in bearings on the trunk, whichlatter has a second crank, t', from which is suspended a rod,j, carryingan index-hand, 7:, adapted to move over a scale, in front of theoperator, which scale is determined by the extreme limit of movementbetween the feed-rolls ofthe second machine.

With this arrangement it will be seen, without further description, thatthe operator below has constantly before him an indicator to show theamount of cotton passing into the second machine.

With the arrangement ot' the bar c and lever d it is not necessary thatthere should be a regular and even thickness of sheet under the bile ofthe feed-roll of the second machine, as the suspended bar c isdifferential as attached to the lever d below-z'. c., the movement ofthe lever d is commensurate with the quan tity ot' cotton fed, and notsimply the thickness of the iieece passing between; for if a large bulkot iieecc passes at one end of the roll and nothing` at the other, thehorizontal bar c acts as a lever to rise only at one end, and as itsconnection with the subjaceut lever is at a middle point it only pullssaid lever half the distance up that it would if both ends raised thedistance of the maximum thickness of the leece.

The weight or spring attached to the long arm of the second lever I usenot only to take up lost motion, but as a power to hold into positionthe top roll for proper strength of bite.

As a modification of my invention I may employ a different train ofmechanism for transmitting the motion from one machine t-o the other-as,for instance, a cord or wire may, inV

many cases, be used to advantage in the place of the connecting-rod,rock-shaft, and cranks.

In defining the scope of my invention more clearly, I would state that Ido not limit myself to combining the index-hand of the rst machine withthe movable roll of the second, but may combine it with any two parts ofthe second machine through which the sheet or 5o iieece of cotton is fedwhen one of said parts is made adjustable to suit the thickness of thefleece being fed, and by such automatic adljustment operates theindicator of the irst machine. 5 5

I disclaim fully such indicators when combined simply with the feeddevices of' the same machine.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is- 6o 1. Thecombination, with the two machines C and D, situated atadistance fromeach other., and connected by a trunk, as described, of bearings mountedupon the second machine, through which the tleece is fed to saidmachine, one of said bearings being movable, as described, aud adaptedto accommodate itself automatically to the varying thickness of thefleece, and an indicator-hand situated upon the tirst machine andconnected with the said 7o movable bearing of the second machine,substantially as described.

2. The combination ot' the two machines C D, the connecting-trunk, thefeed-rolls mounted on the second machine, and one ot' which 75 is mademovable, the links b, horizontal suspended bar c, the lever d, and theindicator,

and mechanism, substantially as described,

connecting said lever with the said indicator on the first machine, asset forth.

JOHN HILL.

Witnesses A. C. YOUNG, W. W. BUssEY.

